Work

Hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese women: a case-control study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Sex hormones may play a role in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the evidence is limited. METHODS: This case-control study collected information on sex hormonal and reproductive factors of 99 female incident NPC cases and 109 female controls in Hong Kong through face-to-face interviews. RESULTS: An increased risk of NPC associated with late menarche and spontaneous miscarriage history was indicated when adjusted for age only, the age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) were 2.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-4.72 for menarche at ages > 14 years, 2.31 (95% CI 1.03-5.18) for one miscarriage, and 4.00 (95% CI 1.04-15.31) for ≥ 2 miscarriages. But such associations were attenuated after adjustment for additional potential confounders, the fully-adjusted OR were 1.78 (95% CI 0.76-4.14) for menarche at ages > 14 years, 2.11 (95% CI 0.90-4.99) for one miscarriage, and 3.42 (95% CI 0.76-15.32) for ≥ 2 miscarriages. No associations were found for the other studied exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Several hormonal exposures in relation to NPC risk were studied for the first time. However, this analysis led to inconclusive results given the small size but suggest no association between sex hormones and NPC in Hong Kong women.

Source: BMC Research Notes

DOI: 10.1186/s13104-025-07471-1

Authors: Xiao-Ying Su, Axel Schroder, Lap Ah Tse, Ignatius Tak-sun Yu, Shao-Hua Xie

Institutions: Fujian Medical University, Karolinska Institutet, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Language: English

Topic: Head and Neck Cancer Studies

Subfield: Otorhinolaryngology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,690